What is the ultimate weapon against necromancers?  I don’t want to give it away, but it is as tall as a 2-story home, as long as a bus, and eats zombies like they are animal crackers.  To find the whole answer, you will need to read Jim Butcher’s seventh addition to The Dresden Files – Dead Beat.  In this volume, our intrepid Harry finds himself thrown into the middle of a conflict between several wielders of the dead.  And in the midst of dealing with the drama associated, he does not go without being accused of going a little nutty.

As usual, Dresden finds himself dealing with a case he can’t turn down regardless of the risks involved.  Harry also comes to find himself getting tangled up with the wardens again, but in a way entirely different than even he could have suspected.  Plus he has to contend with an annoying roommate in the form of Thomas Raith (his half brother, half incubus), a lead weight around his neck (paranormally squeemish medical examiner Waldo Butters), and a puppy that grew a lot bigger than anticipated (the name Mouse would be more accurate if the u were to change to an o).

As expected, Harry deals with the punches and manages to win the day a number of times against enemies bigger and badder than him.  He also manages to do a good job protecting a number of people who need it along the way.  But if the twists and turns of figuring out who the bad guys are and what they’re up to aren’t enough, Harry finds himself dealing with some unusual internal issues.  And in the end, Harry wins the day, but very few good graces for the path of destruction it took to do so (collateral property damage seems to be one of his strong suits).